On March 23rd the annual House Softball Tournament took place. All four houses had been practicing hard during PE lessons. The children were split into two groups, primary and secondary. Each house team played each other with each game lasting 20 minutes. After some close fought games the final results were as follows:
Overall Scores
Tie 1st Sura and Baya
3rd Garuda
4th Komodo
The Year 4 Saving the World: Habitats and Recycling assembly was a great success. The children enjoyed linking their IPC and English learning and were very keen to learn their lines from the scripts. They were happy to invite EcoMan back to help them to share the important messages about saving the tropical rainforests, the home of so many amazing animal species, and about how important it is for us to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, to help reduce the amount of waste that has to be disposed of. Hopefully, through their assembly, the Year 4 children have helped the SES community to live in a greener and more environmentally friendly way.
MUN (Model United Nations) is an extracurricular activity in which students debate and create solutions about world problems. In SESMUN 2018, (Surabaya European School Model United Nations) there were two councils: United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), which focused on child labour; and General Assembly (GA), which focused on cyber warfare. In SESMUN, we encouraged students to speak publically, socialize and learn skills in debating.
Surabaya European School students have been participating in Model United Nations (MUN) conferences for the past three years. We especially wanted to introduce this programme to inexperienced and younger students as there are very limited opportunities for students to participate in conferences especially in Surabaya and Indonesia in general. Through this initiative, we wished to continue to develop relationships with other schools, as well as create an opportunity to share what we have learnt and be able to debate with students from different schools, and encourage young students from as young as eleven to socialise and broaden their perspectives and views on our world.
We provided a memorable experience to fellow students, not only to speak up on their own, but to solve problems and improvise for the future. We believe that through MUN, students not only gain skills and recognition important decisions such as applying to schools in the future.
On March 10th, the SES Aqua Tigers entered a Friendly Swim Meet held at Surabaya Intercultural School. The students had been training very hard for months prior to the meet and everyone did very well, smashing their personal bests. For some students, this was their first swim meet and the experience of taking part and representing their school team is something that they will remember for a long time. Special mention goes to the following students who finished one or more of their races in the top 3: Michelle, Oliver, Regan, Aiko, Evan, Langit, Juliette, Kyul, Jessie, Erwin, Zian and Viggo.
On Friday, March 2nd, the swim team took part in a Swimathon to raise money for the SES Aqua Tigers Swim Team. In total the swimmers swam more than 2000 laps all together and raised around Rp 100 million for the team, which has gone towards purchasing swimsuits for the whole team and new swimming equipment. A special thank you to all the parents that helped to support this event and make it a real success. We hope to hold another Swimathon at the beginning of the next academic year.
We had another enjoyable time celebrating the ‘Festival of Colour’ on Friday afternoon following the Swimathon, which was also very successful. Holi is primarily observed in South Asia but has spread across the world in celebration of love and the changing of the seasons. It is an ancient Hindu festival that marks the end of winter and the start of spring, with the first mentions of it dating back to a 4th century poem. It was even described in detail in a 7th century Sanskrit play called “Ratnavali,” written by the Indian emperor Harsha. The festival also symbolises a new beginning for Hindus to end conflicts and let go of emotional impurities from the past.
Many of our community participated and both students and adults alike enjoyed throwing the coloured powders! It was a memorable occasion for all. Being global citizens I think it is important for us to celebrate and enjoy a range of cultural events throughout the year, helping to further develop our international-mindedness.
On Wednesday 28th February, 13 excited children arrived at school early to depart on their class trip to Goa Maharani. Some people travelled in the school car and the others in the bus. Upon arrival, the excited children gathered to collect their entrance wrist band, then walked keenly through the animal enclosures to the cave entrance. Inside the cave the children took time to choose formations to sketch and eagerly discussed how they had been formed over time. After visiting the cave the children were impressed with the gemstone collection. The ‘big cats’ enclosure was the perfect place for lunch and the children were careful not to share their lunches with the lions and tigers. With stomachs full they took time to visit other animals and stopped for an ice-cream before returning to the bus. The children kept themselves busy on the journey home playing memory games and watching movies. Safely back in the arms of their parents, the children excitedly retold the events of the day.
This year Ms Chris, Mr Phillip and 15 Secondary students all travelled to Northern Thailand for the School Camp. The Maekok River Outdoor Education Centre is located next to a sleepy village called Thaton, near the Burmese border, and this is where we stayed for the five nights of our trip. Some of the activities that we did included: archery, climbing, team-building games, cycling, raft-building and rafting, hiking, confidence and high ropes courses, night games, team tech challenge (creating a safe way for an egg to drop 20 metres using a handful of scrap materials), learning some Thai, going to a market and buying some ingredients, and then cooking them. Phew! That was a lot to pack into our trip but we all had a great time doing it all. Ms Chris and I were both very pleased with the way the students grew and developed during the camp, especially in events like the confidence course, and the high ropes course. These challenged some of the students and they really had to face their fears in order to complete them.
It was a busy time and we all came back drained of energy, but it was a thoroughly rewarding time and a fantastic experience for everyone.
The Year 5s gave us an entertaining and educational presentation of myths and legends using an ‘Asia’s Got Talent’ format. They did a great job and all the students should be proud of their performances.
We learned more about the ‘Felita’ Waste Management system with a brief talk given by staff from Komunitas Sahabat Bumi. Students and parents were able to ask questions about how organic waste is transformed into liquid and solid fertilizer.
Mr Phil showed us how anki software can help supplement learning and revision by creating flash cards to help you remember vocabulary or facts about any topic you wish. Anki is available for free for PC, Mac and Linux operating systems, and for android phones and iPhones. https://apps.ankiweb.net/
Our Community Service projects and IGCSE Global Perspectives work was celebrated by the Year 10/11 students in two short video clips. It was amazing to see the good work that we have done and are continuing to do with SD Negeri Sambikerep 1, a local primary school, and various charities. We have bought and donated sports equipment and stationery to SD Negeri Sambikerep 1, provided Food and Clothing for Yayasan Abdi Asih (AIDS) and Yayasan Alit (Street Children).
As usual, many children received certificates and awards for their achievements across the curriculum. This included several of our primary students who participated in the spelling Bee at SNA, Surabaya and achieved second place overall. There was strong competition and they should be commended for their efforts. Miss Liza and Mr Coffey accompanied the children to both meetings at Singapore National Academy.
The Year 4 children enjoyed their IPC Entry Point Habitats walk to the Pakuwon pond. They excitedly observed and sketched living things on the land and in the pond and sky. We were lucky to see shrimps, fish, lilies, lotus flowers and a frog in the pond. Many dragonflies and birds flew above their heads and they managed to avoid the resident flock of geese. They observed and sketched the different shapes of the trees around the pond. All the children were very inquisitive and asked a lot of questions, showing a lot of the IPC Personal Goal, Enquiry. These questions will be used to enhance their learning throughout the unit Land, Sea and Sky. The children also demonstrated a very caring attitude towards their environment, as they enthusiastically identified rubbish on the side of the road and in the pond. It was collected and disposed off properly leaving the area leading up to and around the Pakuwon pond a more attractive, safer and litter free environment.
We were entertained and informed by the Year 6 students who gave an impressive presentation concerning the sources and uses of water and related matters. This was the exit point from their IPC unit ‘Water for Everyone’. It was an action-packed performance which included drama, music and a video presentation which covered the following topics: Water Conservation – Ecoman Play, The Water Cycle – The Water Cycle Song, Water and Human Health – Facts about the importance of clean water for human health. Water Pollution – The problem of water pollution and ways we can contribute to solving this problem.
Water Purification – They completed two experiments related to water purification: Using a still to purify water and using a water filter made of gravel, sand, activated carbon and a filter paper in order to filter the water. Waterborne Diseases – Students explained about various waterborne diseases and the problems that occur when people live far away from a water source. They also studied the world-wide problems caused by droughts and floods. They used maps to draw water-stress zones.
Miss Shovi’s computer animation club members shared some of their latest projects with us. This was enjoyed by the audience and it clearly showed the skills learnt during the ASA. During the assembly we also awarded certificates and gave an update regarding the House Point totals. Another enjoyable assembly! We look forward to the next one.
As the exit point to the IPC unit Making the News, Year 6 students went on a field trip that took them to a radio station and newspaper office. The trip began at the radio station EBS 105.9 FM, where students experienced what it would be like to work as a radio announcer. They were excited to see how much fun people have at work! After the radio station, students enjoyed a lovely lunch break at The Goods Diner. Students’ next stop was at Jawa Pos, where they saw the life cycle of one newspaper. (Photos were taken and students were featured in the paper the next day!) Within the same floor as the newspaper offices, students were able to visit DBL, where they were greeted warmly upon their arrival. They enjoyed seeing amazing basketball gear and hearing all about DBL. It was a fabulous day that the students will remember!
Our final assembly of 2017 was a celebration of various achievements. Year 7 students gave informative and impressive presentations about Citizen Science and Galaxy Zoo projects they had been working on in Science lessons. We also congratulated the swim team who collected numerous prizes from the meet at SIS on Saturday, 9 December. They were excellent ambassadors for the school and should be commended for their sporting achievements and impeccable conduct. Miss Shovi prepared an iMovie presentation with some highlights from the Cultural-Christmas Show. Faizan, gave an update on the Volleyball competition at SIS where we were victorious. Well done!
We announced the winner and runners up for the Mascot Competition and awardee certificates and prizes. Tammia’s design was the winning entry. Judy was congratulated for participating in the ScalaMUN in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands. She did very well in the conference and was the youngest student there and the only overseas student. We saw some highlights from her visit. James in Year 9 received a CD with some memories from his time at SES. He is going to Perth to start school there in January, and we wished him all the best. It was a busy but pleasurable final gathering before the holiday.
A group of 10 SES secondary students played a friendly volleyball match against students from Surabaya Intercultural School. The students, led by Faizan and Tammia, had been practicing rigorously weeks before the match. The match was close in the first set which SES narrowly won 26-24. The second set was dominated by SES. More friendly matches between SIS and SES will be arranged in the future.
What an amazing show, the teachers are so proud of the children. Talents like singing, dancing and acting were featured in the show and the children did a good job. This year the show included a hip hop dance to the Jingle Bells song followed by group singing and solo singers. The older children performed a musical titled ‘Frosty the Snowman’ and we finished it off with the song Feliz Navidad.
We had a range of singing, music, drama and dance as part of the festive fun. It was an enjoyable evening attended by guests from the Ministry of Education, local schools as well as our fabulous parents. The primary and secondary students did a great job and should be proud of the acts that were showcased. After the show, we enjoyed some delicious festive foods and had a chance to socialise.
On Saturday, 9th December 2017 SES’s newly formed Swim Team entered a Friendly Swim Meet held at Surabaya Intercultural School. The students had been training very hard for the two weeks prior to the meet and everyone did very well, smashing the personal bests. Special mention goes to the following students who finished one or more of their races in the top 3: Alex, Langit, Evan, Regan, Kyul, Jessie, Erwin, Zian, Kelly, Kathleen, Morgan, Michelle, Ollie, Chan Kyu, Viggo, Madalena and Matthieu.
A team of 30 SES children from years 2 to 6 took part in a Cross Country competition held at Sekolah Ciputra. There were over 200 children racing on the day. Everyone did their best and some of the SES students even came home with a medal. Special congratulations to: Langit, Mischa, Rachel, Regan, Vicky,Ji In, Daniel, Ollie.
On Tuesday, 17th November 2017 children from years 5 to 11 took part in a friendly Water Polo competition at the Pakuwon Family Golf swimming pool. The competition was fierce with each house team looking to gain some valuable points towards the overall score. In the end Baya claimed first prize.
On Saturday, 11th November, Surabaya European School hosted a Seven-a-Side Soccer Tournament. The tournament comprised of round robin matches, a third and fourth playoff and a final, with trophies for the winners and runners up in each age group. In total we had 15 teams entered from 8 different schools. The day was a great success and very enjoyable for the parents and students involved.
SES had a team entered in both the Under 9 and Under 11 age group and a mixed team with SIS in the Under 13 age group. The Under 9 SES team took home first place whilst the Under 13 team finished second. The Under 11 team also did very well against some tough opposition. Each of SES’s teams had a large number of girls involved, which was also positive to see. We look forward to hosting next years competition again.
Special thanks to our generous sponsors Darmo Hill Apartments, Hotel Tunjungan, Evian, Bara Coaching, Avian Paints, Kopi Kapal Api and Lentera Media.